During the recent press day for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, Daily Dead had the opportunity to sit down with writer/director Christopher Landon, who has been involved with the series and crafting its ever-burgeoning mythology since 2010’s Paranormal Activity 2.
The Marked Ones is Landon’s first time stepping behind the camera for the franchise and we spoke to him about some of the new story elements introduced in his spin-off project. Landon also discussed elevating the level of violence in The Marked Ones, teased an epic end game for the series, and let us know we can expect from his next directorial outing, Scouts Vs. Zombies.
*Spoiler Alert: Major plot points and reveals are discussed in the following interview. Look for spoiler-free interviews with Landon and stars of The Marked Ones, Andrew Jacobs, Jorge Diaz and Gabrielle Walsh this week!
Going back to Paranormal Activity 2, how much of this mythology did you guys have in mind when you started opening up the world from the original film? Was there a game plan in place on how all these elements would work together and did you have any idea back then that we’d be seeing time travel introduced into this series at some point?
Christopher Landon: When we were making part two that was really where we started really creating this mythology. We created our mini-think tank because we at least wanted to have a general idea of where all this could be going. The one thing we always agreed upon was that we wanted this to be part of a bigger universe; we didn’t want it to feel like it was just about one family. And so we started talking about this bigger world back then.
But as we were going along and working on these movies, we would discover more and more so the whole thing with the portal- or time travel, even though it’s not necessarily time travel- is that instead of places, the portal could actually connect to specific moments of time that were of a certain importance to the franchise. So that was sort of the idea that we were playing with and ultimately, what we’re trying to tee up to is stuff that’s going to happen in Paranormal 5.
The fun thing about making this movie is that even though it really is enough of a stand-alone movie to be able to enjoy it on its own, it’s also directly tied into the other films and more films to come in the future. We do have a big idea that we’re working towards, so I don’t want to spoil that, but it’s a really big idea and something that’s much bigger than perhaps anyone could have ever imagined for this franchise.
Sometimes when you’re working on a story, you almost have to let the story dictate its own twists and turns. I always say that sometimes the best writing happens when you’re not conscientiously writing and the Paranormal films really exemplify that because there have been a few cool things that have happened that weren’t written that way. We just went with them because they enriched the movie and story we were trying to make.
When we started making The Marked Ones, it was initially going to focus a lot more on the coven and brujeria which is a certain type of witchcraft, but the story was resisting it and it was pushing back. That’s when we decided to work more in this possession story then because that’s where it wanted to go.
I wanted to talk a bit about the tone of The Marked Ones because it’s got a bit of a roller coaster energy to it, but it’s also a bit nastier where we’re seeing a lot more violence this time- and nudity. Was the tonal shift and the increased violence something you were conscientious of?
Christopher Landon: We definitely went for a few new elements this time around and I think that’s because we felt like we had earned the right to be a little darker and a little more aggressive this time around. And for the nudity- it wasn’t like we sat around and said we needed boobs in this movie just for the sake of having them- it was entirely a function of story so it really had a purpose here.
And in all fairness, they are two teenagers who just discovered there’s a naked chick in their building so of course they’re going to be watching (laughs).
Christopher Landon: I know (laughs)! And in the end, it’s just a really funny and creepy set piece in the movie. It’s definitely one of those moments where the audience just dissolves with laughter, but then is immediately pulled into this really dark and weird place which I love. We also went for some other elements too, like body horror, which added some really great, gruesome moments.
And you finally brought guns into the equation which was again, a great comedic moment that also was pretty badass too. It wasn’t a level of violence we had seen in this series before.
Christopher Landon: Yeah, the gun thing was pretty funny. I remember when I wrote that, the studio had a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to it because they weren’t sure we should include it. My point to them was that this was a totally different world we were dealing with; this wasn’t white suburbia anymore. And I knew if I put it in there, there would be that payoff for the audience when the gangbangers show up and pull their guns out on the witches. I knew if we had done our homework with the characters that we would earn a big reaction from that moment- and when he blows away that first witch, fans really seem to lose it when that happens. It was great; it was like yes, smart people would bring a gun with them into a dangerous situation like this.
Now that you’re moving on to Scouts Vs. Zombies, how much of will you be involved with the Paranormal Activity films from here on out? It’s seemed to have really been a family affair for you guys thus far.
Christopher Landon: I think I’ll always be involved in some respect just because of how closely we’ve worked together on these films. All of us have become really, really close over the years and it’s just been a total joy working with these people. But I’m obviously ready to do other stuff now and so yeah, I’m getting ready to make Scouts Vs. Zombies with Paramount. I think it’ll be next to impossible to completely tear me away from this series though.
I’m really looking forward to working on Scouts too. What’s funny is when I initially heard about the project, I was a tad dismissive of it because title just sounds obvious. But when I read the script, I was completely shocked by how oddly emotionally-grounded it was. It’s really a movie about friendship, about these three boys, and they’re at that point where they’re starting to grow apart and the only thing that’s kept them friends is scouting. The movie takes place on their last campout and so I fell in love with it because of the emotional core that the story has and all those themes- like friendship and loyalty- that I think we can all relate to. And there are zombies, of course (laughs).
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Catch up on our recent coverage of Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones by visiting the following links:
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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